NACO Associate and Sustaining Members enable NACO to enhance its continuing education programs for county officials across the state. Visit NACO's complete associate and sustaining membership list here.

Education Foundation Memorial Program

A gift to NACO's Education Foundation ensures that the children of county officials and county employees are eligible to apply for scholarships to continue their education at Nebraska's higher learning institutions. Whatever their passion - history, art, music, science, education, sports - the NACO Education Foundation will provide them an opportunity to fund their education beyond the K-12 level. Memorial gifts to NACO's Education Foundation are tax deductible and will be a lasting legacy in honor of your loved one's commitment to educating the children of Nebraska's county officials and employees. For more information about how to make a memorial gift, please contact Larry Dix / 402-434-5660 ext. 226.

Nebraska High School seniors who are the children or stepchildren of county offiicals or employees are encouraged to apply for one of twelve $1,000 NACO scholarships. Additional information and the downloadable application can be found under the 'Services' tab on the NACO website. The scholarship deadline is March 1, 2012.

2012 Directory of County Officials

The order form for the NACO 2012 Directory of County Officials is available here or on the NACO website. Each directory is $17 if tax-exempt or $18 if taxable.

Almost everyone knows how to write a letter and we take a lot of effort to make sure our snail mail letters are well written. Emails, on the other hands, sometimes tend to fall short in many areas. More often than not your inbox can be full of emails with poor spelling and inadequate grammar. Consider the impressions your emails can make on other people. There is nothing wrong with taking a little extra time to spice up your emails to make them look professional and well thought out. A little email etiquette can go far in the professional world.

There are a few things that everybody should know about sending an email. Be sure to use the recipient fields correctly. When sending the email to only one person, use the "to" field. If you would like to send the same email to other people, use the "CC" field. If you want to protect the privacy of your recipients, use the "BCC" field (blind carbon copy).

Try to make the subject line useful. A good subject lines provides a summary of the email to prepare the reader quickly. An email inbox can have many emails in it at one time, so having a good subject line helps the recipient to determine the priority of the email and prevents your email from being deleted. Since it is the first thing seen, make sure your email subject line is error free and to the point. Try to avoid generic subject lines so that filters don't block the email.

When writing your email, start with a greeting or a short salutation. Keep the email conversational and focused. It is harder to read letters on a computer screen than on a sheet of paper, so keep your sentences short and leave a space between paragraphs. Be sure to use proper grammar and spelling. An email reflects on its author and an email with spelling and grammar mistakes can reflect poorly on the author. An error-free email is easier to read and provides fewer distractions.

End your email politely. Closing with "Thanks in advance for your help" can sometimes soften a harsh email and can provide you with a more favorable reply.

Other things to keep in mind when sending an email may include: be aware of your attachment size (anything over 1MB can be rather large for people with a slower Internet connection), be sure you are sending the email to the correct people before clicking the send button, and be careful when using abbreviations and emoticons. If a long response may be required, send an initial email letting the other party know that a more detailed email will follow.

Email has become one of the main ways to communicate in the professional world. A little etiquette in your email can go a long way.

NACo's WIR Conference focuses on public lands and other issues critical to the western region of the United States. This year's conference will feature Dr. Lowell Catlett, a regent's professor/dean and chief administrative officer at New Mexico State University's College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. An exciting futurist, Catlett's knowledge of technologies and their implications on the way Americans live and work is addressed in his upbeat presentations.

For additional information about the conference and to register, click here.

NACo Web-based Education

Cost Effective Innovations to Improve County Employee Health Care

Thursday, March 22, 2012

1:00 PM - 2:15 PM CDT

Limited county budgets and rising health care costs are placing significant challenges on county employee health plans. This webinar will feature a range of ideas about how your county can better manage employee health care to promote wellness and potentially help lower health care costs. Register here.